o flexible enough to cater to how your team works to manage your company’s logistics as it affects finance, service, inventory tracking, manufacturing cost, distribution relationship management, to name a few pain points;

o to manage the story behind your business, whether it is what customers are saying to your teams, or tracking services delivered by your people and equipment in the field;

o one tool that will grow with your company and take care of the minor details that makes up your business’ big picture.

You should lead the decision making on “whichERP software tool is right for my business?” The most important thing to keep in mind is that although your company does have similar needs as a “Big business”, your small enterprise does not need all the detailed functionality as does the bigger business. As a small business you are better able to multitask and as such you are most likely performing numerous jobs - your software tool should be flexible enough to work for you:

ü Find an IT consultant to guide you to a deployment that makes sense for the level you wish to have for your business. Your consultant should have a level of expertise and experience with the software tool combined with an ability to guide you on leveraging this IT tool in your business environment. Your consultant must be able to grasp the fact that you need functionality but not necessarily to the vigorous level required by a large enterprise.

ü Explore new, more modern software, get the latest technology available. Take advantage of your size, a smaller business team is more agile, flexible and able to cope with supporting each other through the “rough” ride of learning new software. For example, do not hesitate to pick a solution that will deliver mobile functionality, it is born from your need to work from everywhere.

ü Watch your budget but work very hard to access cost savings so you can make good decisions on what you purchase. Be careful here, too many small business owners believe that “my time costs nothing”, so you fail to add value to your “total savings” calculations.

Keep in mind that even the best of software can suffer a failed deployment; however, with an open mind and trust in your consultant, a consultant who understands the tool and can gel with your business needs, and good software with a strong software manufacturer behind that tool, you are much more likely to have a successful deployment.

Your business is not too small for an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tool. Remember, when challenged on implementing things the way you want, don’t ask “Why?” ask “Why not?”